#windows tech support is useless

[sirenthestone]

Do yourself a favor Windows users. Either turn of device encryption (in settings) or finish setup. Don't do what I did for my brother today and spend a full day trying to bypass bitlocker without a key before finally realizing you can factory reset in BIOS. Also, you can factory reset in BIOS, fun fact.

[vexic929]

so it's come to my attention that a lot of people just don't know how to optimize their computer experience - whether they're scared of screwing things up irreparably or just unaware the options exist! I work in tech support so here are my basics (mainly Windows):

you got a new computer: great! first thing you're gonna do is look at your pre-installed programs to remove or replace

norton antivirus - replace: this is technically speaking an antivirus but in my experience it's utterly useless in doing anything except popping up at inconvenient times and blocking you from downloading other antivirus applications (I personally tend to refer to it as preinstalled malware), uninstall it and replace it with avast antivirus

microsoft edge/internet explorer - replace: you can't delete this one without going into regedit but you CAN turn it off in the control panel via "turn Windows features on or off" microsoft edge and internet explorer both are notoriously slow and very very good at attracting malware and viruses, I suggest replacing this one with firefox (when it asks, click the button that makes firefox or whatever you choose your default browser)

cortana/copilot or other ai assistant - remove: this one is trickier and requires going into regedit to remove entirely but they are preinstalled spyware so here is a link to steps on how to disable these

in addition to removing and replacing the above listed I also suggest installing ccleaner to ensure your computer doesn't get cluttered with temporary files and runs more smoothly

congratulations! you're ready to use your computer! <3333

[floatingcatacombs]

Tech So Bad It Sounds Like The Reviewers Are Just Plain Depressed

12 Days of Aniblogging 2024, Day 8

I really do try to stay away from armchair cultural criticism, especially when it's this far removed from my weaboo wheelhouse, but this one’s been eating away at me for the entire year. What are we doing here?

2024 has been full of downright bad consumer tech! The Apple Vision Pro, the Rabbit and Humane AI pins, the PS5 Pro… those are just the big ones, and that’s not even getting started on vaporware like Horizon Worlds and Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC initiative. Sure, there are Juiceros every year, but this recent batch of flops feels indicative of a larger trend, which is shipping products that are both overengineered and conceptually half-baked. Of course, there’s plenty of decent tech coming out too – Apple’s recent laptops and desktops have been strong and competitively priced, at least the base models. The Steam Deck created a whole new product category that seems to be thriving. And electric cars… exist, which is better than nothing. But it’s been much more fun to read about of the bad stuff, of course. These days it feels like most of the tech reviews I read these days have the journalists asking “what’s the point?” halfway through, or asserting in advance that it will fail, like this useless product with a bad value proposition is prompting an existential crisis for them. Maybe it is!

yeah yeah journalists don't write their own headlines. I can assure you that the article content carries the same tone for these though.

What did a negative tech review look like before the 2020s? Maybe there wasn’t one, really. The 2000s and the 2010s were drenched in techno-optimism. Even if skepticism towards social media emerged over time, hardware itself was generally received well, mixed at worst, because journalists were happy to extrapolate out what a product and its platform could do. Nowadays, everyone takes everything at face value! As they should –the things we buy rarely get meaningfully better over time, and the support window for flops is getting shorter and shorter with each passing year. On the games side of things, look how quickly Concord ended! With that out of the way, I’m going to start zeroing in on the hardware I saw a “why does this exist” type review for this year.

The Apple Vision Pro

People have been burnt time and time again by nearly every VR headset ecosystem to release (other than mayyybe Oculus, but Facebook’s tendrils sinking in don’t feel great either). The PSVR was a mild success at best and the PSVR2 was an expensive and unmitigated disaster that lost support in a matter of months. Meanwhile, the Valve Index couldn’t cut it with its price, and Microsoft actively blew up their own HoloLens infrastructure earlier this year. It’s at this point it's clear that VR is a niche, and one that’s expensive to develop for and profit off of.  Surely Apple will save us!

completely isolate yourself from your family for the low, low price of multiple paychecks

With most of the competition focusing on gaming, Apple attempted a blue ocean strategy with the Vision Pro by instead making their target audience… nobody! It’s hard to tell what anyone was ever supposed to do with these things, and reading long-form reviews, it became very clear that the reviewers were trying to come up with viable use-cases and largely failing, because it’s just not very practical tech. There’s no physical input devices, so you’re instead using mix of hand-tracking, eye-tracking, and voice commands to control the thing. That’s pretty cool, but it means that the one niche that VR has been proven in, gaming, is effectively impossible. Things like office software can also be hard to use without a keyboard and mouse, and even when there’s tailor-made headset applications for existing software, it’s still usually not better than just doing it on your desktop!

The tech is real, and that’s the saddest part. Looking at teardowns, I fully believe that the hardware had to cost multiple thousands of dollars to break even, and as someone who suffers from VR motion sickness, I’d be really curious to see if all the stabilization tech from their extra onboard chips helps with that as much as the press releases claim. It’s like a more drastic version of the iPad problem, where the hardware is amazing on paper, but interfacing limits with the form factor itself combined with a subpar operating system mean that you can’t actually do as much as you’d hope to with all that power.

Of course, the Vision Pro is also full of prototype hacks and hard design problems – that battery pack is a nightmare! If it’s a productivity device, how are you supposed to share content with other people when the headset has to be custom-fit every time and there’s only one profile? Apple still has no good answer. That leaves the only available niche for this device as white-collar productivity done in isolation, and most people fundamentally do not live in that world. It feels lonely and dystopic, even.

If I had to guess what happened, the VR division at Apple was working on this for the better part of a decade, and facing headwinds, Apple decided to cut their losses and force them to deliver a doomed product. There’s a potent business fantasy of a bad version 1.0 leading to a successful 2.0 and beyond, but Apple has not pulled that off any time in the twenty-first century. It’s either a success or it is a proven failure, and this is so, so, obviously the latter. I do hope that the stabilization tech makes it into other headsets eventually though, so that I can play Blade and Sorcery at my friend’s house without throwing up. Everyone else, please copy Apple’s homework or steal their patents, preferably to the tune of under $3500.

Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pins

The current AI paradigm has been around for two years now, and since we've all heard way too many arguments already, I will try to keep my own takes brief. The LLM results we have right now are real (even if everyone is trying to dress them up as superintelligent snake oil when they’re just cool computer synthesis), but from everything I read, it seems like the era of drastic improvement is over. It would take exponentially more text and images and video than we already have to get more linear improvements, and a good chunk of the world has already been scraped, and the lawsuits are already pouring in, further slowing down data ingestion. The tech is slowing down, and the industry won’t be able to grow its way out of the hard social problems it’s invoked. If there are gains to be made, it's in more fine-tuned and curated LLMs, and that's far harder work than most of these companies want to get up to right now.

With that out of the way, are you interested in wearing an LLM on your shirt?

The video that notoriously tanked a company. Of course, now I'm also supposed to make fun of this guy for using b-roll of himself speeding in a school zone . Nobody wins.

Not one, but two separate startups pushed this idea to market this year. Humane’s AI pin launched for seven hundred dollars plus a twenty-five dollars per month subscription, all for the privilege of getting to ask a little square on your chest questions and getting GPT answers spoken back to you. But what about like… ChatGPT’s own phone app? Or hell, even Siri! Apple and Android’s voice assistants are both are over a decade old– do you really have that many ungoogleable queries? And specifically, ones that voice responses make the most sense for, and not text? To make things worse, this thing has serious overheating issues and a battery that can’t even last a day. The Rabbit R1 at least has a cute design, and actually has a screen, and is much cheaper, but it requires a data tether to your phone, so like…why not just use your phone. Reverse-engineering has confirmed that its app can just run on a normal Android phone, so there’s really nothing special other than the little orange square that it’s hosted in.

Why would you even try to roll out a product as doomed as these, instead of just going bankrupt and pocketing a year or two of salary like most startups? The AI boom, of course! After the NFT hype cycle, everyone really did convince themselves that you can just fail upwards with no real limit. Unfortunately, people have higher standards for hardware than PNG transaction platforms, as they get far more upset when they’re left physically holding the bag. I’ve been watching Deep Space 9 recently and have to ask, are these companies trying to capture the fantasy of Star Trek comms badges? Because if so, they should honestly lean more into it. It wouldn't be any more functional of a product, but if there’s one thing nerds always love, it’s themed garbage.

welp

The PS5 Pro

This one just launched a bit ago for the holiday season. It makes some sense on paper – most PS5 games offer a choice between a performance and a fidelity mode, so why not just make a version strong enough that it can get the benefits of both? Great! That’ll be seven hundred dollars.

Okay, $700 doesn’t sound as insane in the context of that Humane pin I was just talking about. But it’s $200 more than the PS5 at launch, and it doesn’t even come with a disc drive unless you want to fork over another $80. The past few generations of gaming have been defined by heavily subsidized console prices with the goal of roping gamers into more lucrative ecosystems, but Sony here seems to be testing the waters for an unsubsidized era.

I've heard the external disc drive install process is surprisingly user-friendly, but at this price point they should have included a little automaton who does it for you

If you can stomach PC gaming, at that price you’re halfway there to buying something that could trounce a PS5 Pro, plus a monitor close enough to your face that you might actually notice the 4K improvements. There are also only a couple of games per year being produced at high enough fidelity for there to be any noticeable quality improvements. The returns are diminishing and the AAA landscape is narrowing, and console upgrades like these only hasten the industry’s spiraling. Is all this sustainable from a development perspective? I don’t know. If Nintendo announced a Mario Odyssey sequel for the Switch 2, I’d buy it at launch regardless of the graphics, and my PS3 can play Demon's Souls and my anime blu-rays just fine. So I’m well aware that I’m not the target audience for stuff like the PS5 Pro, but I think it's going to become harder and harder to compel that audience going forward.

_

The end of the low interest rates in US has drastically changed the underpinnings of its tech industry, and I think every one of these bad product launches can be traced back here one way or another. The era of running flashy ventures at a loss for years in order to corner the market is profoundly over, unless you’ve got Thiel blood money or a GPT transformer, and even then. This, combined with the end of quarantine-era user habits, has left many companies to repeatedly go all in on hype cycles like blockchain and the metaverse and AI, pretending like the last one never happened every time. This trend-chasing means, that depending on each company’s circumstances, they need to either spin something up quick, reroute an existing prototype, or risk delivering laughably late. You need a product and you need it fast. And rushed tech is always going to have load-bearing and stupid problems, no matter how long the initial development time was. Everyone loses, especially the saps who actually believe in the sales pitches enough to buy these things. And those poor, poor tech journalists who have to review it all are being consumed with eldritch madness watching this all unfold. Hey, at least they’re not trying to simp for Microsoft Copilot!

Hopefully, this particular era of tech ends sooner rather than later, so that I don’t feel compelled to do another essay of this type. If I were more of an idealist or a doofus I’d be dreaming of a serious anticonsumerist movement and/or Xi Jinping liberating us all, but unfortunately I’m of the belief that we’re doomed to dumbass gizmos destined for the landfill until the end of the silicon era.

[radplaidtacofan]

Trying to fix any issue with Windows makes me want to scream into the void because their support is fucking garbage

Maybe my issue is ~*~unique~*~ but I cannot find a single bit of useful information on how to fix it.

So I have ROG Strix laptop and the monitor is already dying a strange death. The bottom half of the screen will go completely black with some flickering lines above the void, but only in 144hz mode. It works mostly fine in 60hz mode (although sometimes there's a flickering line across it, but that's a new development as of today).

Now, I would think that I could just keep the display in 60hz mode and call it a day but no, sometimes it will randomly switch to 144hz, turning the bottom half of the screen black and forcing me to re-open the advanced display settings page and change it back to 60hz mode.

Not only does it randomly change but sometimes certain games will force it into 144hz mode. I can understand that maybe these games only work in 144hz mode. Maybe that's the issue and I just can't play them unless I hook my laptop up to a second monitor (I'd had one but it died).

Anyway, older versions of Windows allowed you to turn dynamic display on and off. This was a setting that let the refresh rate be, well, dynamic. The thing is, they removed that feature and now it is impossible to make the display rate static, or to remove refresh rates that aren't compatible.

Of course, to get this answer you need to wade through dozens of posts on their support site where their moderators copy and paste annoyingly "sympathetic" responses like, "I understand your frustration. Here's how you can change your refresh rate," to which the OP will respond that they don't want to change the refresh rate, they want it to stop being changed from what they've set it at. The moderator (or a second one) will continue to be "sympathetic" and use "soothing" language to claim that they do understand what OP wants... it's to change the refresh rate, right? You can do that through settings!

Sometimes, though, a moderator will finally fucking get it and inform the OP that unfortunately there's just no way to remove an incompatible refresh rate or stop either a program or Windows itself from randomly switching to said incompatible refresh rate.

Like,

Why isn't this a setting???

Why are incompatible refresh rates even an option??? Shouldn't their shitty software detect which refresh rates are compatible with the connected display(s)???

And the last fucking thing anyone with a frustrating tech support issue wants to hear/read is a bunch of fake sympathetic, soft tone responses like, "I understand and empathize with your issue, that must be frustrating. Here's a bunch of useless information that has nothing to do with your query."

[govindhtech]

Learn 5 open-source AI tools: PyTorch for deep learning

Open-source AI (artificial intelligence) technologies allow anybody to use, change, and distribute their source code. Innovative AI applications emerge when AI algorithms, pre-trained models, and data sets are made public. Volunteer enthusiasts improve on current work and expedite the development of practical AI solutions. These technologies often produce the greatest tools for difficult enterprise use cases.

Open-source AI projects and libraries on GitHub drive digital innovation in healthcare, finance, and education. Frameworks and tools save developers time and let them focus on customizing solutions for unique projects. Small teams of developers may produce valuable apps for Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android using existing libraries and tools.

Real-time fraud protection, medical picture analysis, personalized suggestions, and customizable learning are possible with open-source AI’s diversity and accessibility. This availability attracts developers, researchers, and companies to open-source projects and AI models. Open-source AI gives enterprises access to a vast, diversified community of developers that constantly enhance AI tools. This collaborative environment promotes transparency and continual improvement, creating feature-rich, trustworthy, and modular tools. Open-source AI’s vendor neutrality keeps enterprises from being beholden to one vendor.

Open-source AI is tempting, but enterprises must be careful with its free availability. Unfocused bespoke AI development might result in mismatched outputs, lost resources, and project failure. Biased algorithms can also create useless results and promote harmful assumptions. Open-source AI is freely available, so unscrupulous actors might use it to influence results or create damaging content.

Biased training data, data drift, and labeling errors can provide discriminatory results and faulty models. When companies use third-party technologies, they risk endangering stakeholders. Open-source AI must be carefully considered and implemented responsibly.

Tech giants are divided on the matter. Open-source AI advocates like Meta and IBM promote scientific interchange and innovation through the AI Alliance. Google, Microsoft, and Open AI prefer a closed model due to AI safety and misuse concerns. U.S. and EU governments are trying to combine innovation with security and ethics.

Open-source AI transforms Although risky, open-source AI is growing in popularity. Many developers prefer open-source AI frameworks to proprietary APIs and applications. In the 2023 State of Open Source report (not from IBM), 80% of respondents indicated increasing use of open-source software over the preceding year, with 41% reporting a “significant” rise.

As tech companies invest in open-source AI, developers and academics will use it more, giving organizations access to breakthrough AI technology.

IBM Watson Health Employs Tensor Flow for medical image analysis, diagnostics, and tailored treatment. J.P. Morgan’s Athena innovates risk management with Python-based open-source AI. Amazon uses open-source AI to improve Alexa, warehouse operations, and recommendation algorithms. Online educational platforms like Coursera and edX leverage open-source AI to personalize learning, recommend content, and automate grading.

Numerous applications and media services, including Netflix and Spotify, use Tensor Flow or PyTorch to improve recommendations and performance using open-source AI and proprietary solutions.

Five open-source AI tools to know The following open-source AI frameworks promote innovation, cooperation, and cross-disciplinary learning. More than tools, they empower people from beginners to experts to grasp AI’s immense potential.

Tensor Flow is a flexible, adaptable Python and JavaScript learning framework. Developers may build and deploy machine learning models on several platforms with Tensor Flow. Its strong community support and large library of pre-built models and tools simplify AI creation for beginners and experts. PyTorch, an open-source AI framework, has a simple interface for debugging and constructing deep learning models. Model training and experimentation are efficient thanks to its Python library integration and GPU acceleration. Many researchers and developers use it for quick software development prototyping and AI/deep learning research. Keras, a Python-based open-source neural network library, is user-friendly and modular, making deep learning model building easy and rapid. Its high-level API is intuitive for novices and adaptable and powerful for professional users, making it useful for instructional and difficult deep-learning applications. Scikit-learn is a strong open-source Python machine learning and predictive data analysis package. J.P. Morgan and Spotify use its scalable supervised and unsupervised learning techniques in their AI systems. Data mining and analysis in many contexts is easy with its simple setup, reusable components, and huge, active community. Open CV is a programming library with extensive computer vision capabilities, real-time performance, a big community, and platform portability, making it excellent for automating activities, analyzing visual data, and building novel solutions. It scales with organizational needs, making it suited for startups and large companies. Open-source AI technologies like Tensor Flow, Apache, and PyTorch, as well as community platforms like Hugging Face, are becoming more popular as AI developers realize that cooperation is the future. Participating in these groups and collaborating on technologies helps organizations receive the greatest tools and people.

The future of open-source AI Open-source AI reinvents company scaling and transformation. What enterprises may expect as open-source AI drives innovation across industries and encourages widespread adoption and deeper AI use.

Natural language processing (NLP), Hugging Face Transformers, large language models (LLMs), and computer vision libraries like Open CV will enable more complex and nuanced applications like Chabot’s, image recognition systems, and robotics and automation.

Open helper, an open-source chat-based AI helper, and GPT Engineer, a generative AI tool that lets anyone design apps from text prompts, presage ubiquitous, highly personalized AI assistants that can handle complex tasks. This shift toward interactive, user-friendly AI solutions signals further AI incorporation into our daily lives.

Open-source AI is an interesting technology with numerous future uses, but enterprises must navigate and partner to successfully deploy AI solutions. Open-source models often need significant fine-tuning to meet enterprise-level effectiveness, trust, and safety standards. Open-source AI is accessible, but enterprises need compute resources, data infrastructure, networking, security, software tools, and skills to use it effectively.

Open-source AI tools and frameworks cannot provide custom AI solutions for many enterprises. Consider how your business may benefit from open-source AIs and how IBM can help you design and deploy a trustworthy, enterprise-grade AI solution.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[jyoti54]

Why Buy When You Can Get Laptop on Rent Mumbai?

With growing business requirements and ever-evolving technologies, getting the right IT hardware and other assets on rent instead of buying makes an excellent option. For example, getting a laptop on rent Mumbai helps to save capital, reap tax advantages and best the technological uselessness of a business. At laptop rental service providers like ABCom, you can remain assured of availing a huge selection of laptops and desktops on rent within an affordable range. All the laptops available on rent from such companies are highly flexible and follow the latest configurations according to the requirements and specifications of the clients. Besides this, you can also expect timely and swift deliveries, backed by quick service support ensuring minimal downtime.

Different Options Available for Laptop on Rent for a Month

Companies like ABCom boast of inventories filled with products that are specifically curated by experts and simply loved by the customers. With such companies at your service, you can avail the latest laptop on rent for a month without worrying about paying exorbitant rental charges. Your options include:

Apple Laptops: So, what is it that makes getting a MacBook on rent in Mumbai a smart choice? Well, MacBooks are flagship products from Apple with their demand complementing their legendary status among the tech-savvy individuals. From the inventory of the laptop rental service providers, you can rent Apple M1 Chip or MacBook Pro laptops with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD and Intel core i5 processor.

Lenovo Laptops: An Intel core i5 processor, 1TB HDD and 16GB RAM offer sufficient computing power to make the Lenovo Idea Pad one of the best options for students looking to get laptops on rent in Mumbai.

Dell Laptops: With Dell, you can have no doubts regarding the quality of the laptops you get on rent. Specifications like Intel core i3 processor, Windows 11+MSO and 16GB RAM make Dell Latitude the ideal choice when you want to ret laptops in Mumbai for personal use.

HP Laptops:  8th Generation Intel core AMD Dual-Core Processor, 1TB HDD and 4GB RAM in HM Notebook 15Q series make it perfect for both entertainment and work.

So, for the above mentioned variety in available laptops on rent and to even get a laptop on rent without deposit, you can rely on ABCom. Working with the objective to help you meet your laptop requirements within an affordable range, you can expect the most well-maintained and diverse laptops from us. Our laptops on rent do not just perform better but also offer a smooth user experience. Stay ahead in Mumbai’s dynamic landscape and unlock full potential of your study or work with our rented laptops. For more details, call at (+91) 9321330557 or write to us at sales@abcom.in.

[skullprincess]

I got my first laptop in 2009 when I turned 15. It’s a late 2008 aluminum MacBook and praise the lord it still fucking works. But I had to fix it. I replaced the battery twice. I’ve replaced the charger at least 3 times. I replaced the speaker. I’ve upgraded the RAM twice and once was recent because I’d JUST found out my laptop can support 8 GB. Cannot thank iFixit enough!

Mac enthusiasts will tell you that past a certain point (it was either 2014 or 2015 MacBook) you can’t fix it up. Because Apple is hostile towards people who fix their computers at a cheaper price than they’re offering.

I was recently looking into getting a new laptop because out of the three I have, 1) MacBook is too old, 2) the Dell I have is rebooted with Linux Ubuntu so it doesn’t support all apps that Windows/MacOSX has, 3) old Chromebook is kinda useless now.

So naturally, as one does, I started looking at MacBooks. Just to see what these flashy new ones are like.

And I’m so mad because NONE of the new ones except the Studio desktop one had a USB port.

I freely admit I’m a bit behind on the times in terms of technology— I don’t go for what’s new and trendy, I go for what works and what I can afford. I literally got my first iPhone in 2021. I was a preteen when the first iPhone came out.

I USE usb ports. I NEED USB ports because my flash drives and external hard drives and devices USE USB PORTS and you’re telling me Apple decided we don’t NEED ports anymore!? Because they get a say in what tech innovation is???

Whatever they’re doing isn’t innovation for the sake of technology it’s sales advancement for the sake of profit. They package something shiny and new for you with the biggest inconveniences and try to assure you you’re doing the right thing. The new thing is good.

I ended up buying a refurbished 2016 Lenovo Thinkbook with like 16 GB RAM and 200+ GB for like $175 off Amazon. It runs Windows 10. Has touchscreen, thumb scanner, facial recognition. It’s beautiful. I love it.

My late 2008 MacBook can run old versions of Photoshop and Final Cut Pro I found online. Sure my laptop is slow sometimes, but I still use it more than my other laptops. My MacBook at this point is worth less than that Lenovo.

More expensive doesn’t mean it’s better alright? Don’t buy into the Apple hype because like ms-demeanor mentioned above, you can get equivalent parts at a better value.

What you need to look into when getting a laptop/computer and you’re just shopping around is 1) what do you need it for, which leads into 2) how much storage you want, 3) how much RAM you want for what you do, etc. Don’t ask me about gaming stuff because I’m not a gamer at all and I don’t know what good parts are for gamers.

And it’s overwhelming because there’s a lot of brands and computers out there! But to be real like, any Apple app out there, there’s a cheaper Windows equivalent too. Or an online one. A free one, perhaps. There’s a reason so many people love building PCs.

Am I a hypocrite for getting an iPhone? Well I wanted a new phone, I wanted to try an iPhone, and I wanted a phone with a good camera because I take a lot of pictures. And I like my iPhone 12. It was a learning curve since I’d been using Androids since 2012 but it’s alright. Will I buy another iPhone after this? Probably fuck no because this cost me $700 (paid off in like a year)!!!

tl;dr if you think Apple is superior then you’re new to tech and need to do more research into what YOU want out of a computer rather than what big brands tell you you want.

Since some people might want a Mac, I'll offer a Mac equivalent of your laptop guide from the perspective of a Mac/Linux person.

Even the cheapest Macs cost more than Windows laptops, but part of that is Apple not making anything for the low end of the tech spectrum. There is no equivalent Mac to an Intel i3 with 4 gigabytes of RAM. This makes it a lot easier to find the laptop you need.

That said, it is possible to buy the wrong Mac for you, and the wrong Mac for you is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. Get literally anything else. If it has an M2 chip in it, it's the most recent model and will serve you well for several years. Any new MacBook Air is a good pick.

(You could wait for new Macs with M3, but I wouldn't bother. If you are reading these guides the M3 isn't going to do anything you need done that a M2 couldn't.)

Macs now have integrated storage and memory, so you should be aware that whatever internal storage and RAM you get, you'll be stuck with. But if you would be willing to get a 256 gig SSD in a Windows laptop, the Mac laptop with 256 gigs of storage will be just as good, and if you'd be willing to get 8 gigs of RAM in a Windows laptop the Mac will perform slightly better with the same amount of memory.

Buy a small external hard drive and hook it up so Time Machine can make daily backups of your laptop. Turn on iCloud Drive so your documents are available anywhere you can use a web browser. And get AppleCare because it will almost certainly be a waste of money but wooooooow will you be glad it's there if you need it.

I get that you are trying to help and I am not trying to be mean to you specifically, but people shouldn't buy apple computers. That's why I didn't provide specs for them. Apple is a company that is absolutely terrible to its customers and its customers deserve better than what apple is willing to offer.

Apple charges $800 to upgrade the onboard storage from a 256GB SSD to a 2TB SSD.

A 2TB SSD costs between $75-100.

I maintain that any company that would charge you more than half the cost of a new device to install a $100 part on day one is a company making the wrong computer for you.

The point of being willing to tolerate a 256GB SSD or 8GB RAM in a Windows laptop is that you're deferring some of the cost to save money at the time of purchase so that you can spend a little bit in three years instead of having to replace the entire computer. Because, you see, many people cannot afford to pay $1000 for a computer and need to buy a computer that costs $650 and will add $200 worth of hardware at a later date.

My minimum specs recommendations for a mac would be to configure one with the max possible RAM and SSD, look at the cost, and choose to go buy three i7 windows laptops with the same storage and RAM for less than the sticker price of the macs.

So let's say you want to get a 14" Macbook pro with the lowest-level processor. That's $2000. Now let's bump that from 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD to 32GB and 2TB. That gets you to $3000. (The SSD is $200 less than on the lower model, and they'll let you put in an 8TB SSD for $1800 on this model; that's not available on the 13" because apple's product development team is entirely staffed by assholes who think you deserve a shitty computer if you can't afford to pay the cost of two 1991 Jeep Cherokee Laredos for a single laptop).

For $3000 you can get 3 Lenovo Workstation laptops with i7 processors, 32GB RAM, and a 2TB SSD.

And look, for just $200 more I could go up to 48GB RAM and get a 4TB SSD - it costs $600 to upgrade the 14" mac from a 2TB SSD to a 4TB SSD so you could still get three laptops with more ram and the same amount of storage for the cost of one macbook.

I get that some people need to use Final Cut and Logic Pro, but hoo boy they sure are charging you through the nose to use products that have become industry standard. The words "capture" and "monopoly" come to mind even though they don't quite apply here.

"Hostile" does, though, especially since Mac users end up locked into the ecosystem through software and cloud services and become uncertain how to leave it behind if they ever decide that a computer should cost less than a month's rent on a shitty studio apartment in LA.

There's a very good reason I didn't give mac advice and that's because my mac advice is "DON'T."

[sinister-things]

Yandere ROTTMNT Headcanons

NOTE: I do not support this behavior in real life. This post is made for entertainment purposes ONLY. Everything in this post(and beyond) should always stay fictional. Please seek professional help if you or a loved one are experiencing any of these behaviors.

This post was inspired by @pianocat939 's headcanons

Also ⚠️TW⚠️: Mentions of stalking, murder, kidnapping, manipulation, and body restraints

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raph

Dependent + Protective

Everytime you visit the lair, he's dragging you to the training room to show you the newest move he learned

He just gets so much comfort when you're around! He feels so warm and safe!

But, overtime, he becomes dependent on your attention. He secretly follows you places without you knowing

Treats you like glass. Is super afraid to hurt you

Which results in babying you to the extreme. Basically deludes himself into believing you can't do anything by yourself

If he needs to go anywhere(like patrol or something) he has one of his brother's watch you

If you ever escape, he's sent into a rampage that not even his brother's can tame

"Hun, where are you? You're freakin' me out!"

Overall, he's very suffocating, but he means well... if locking you away in the sewers is your definition of well

Leo

Manipulative + Dependent

Master of mind games

He won't admit it, but he feels useless

So, to make himself feel better, he makes himself useful... by making you feel helpless

The reason he manipulates is because he want's you to see him as your knight in shining armor

Anything could trigger an obsession. Likely some kind of heart-to-heart interaction

If you're someone who isn't manipulated easily, he will up the ante

I imagine he'd snap if he found out one of your friends had a thing for you

He's 100% killing your friend

Then he's coming to your house to whisk you away

Don't bother trying to hide. He'll find you

"There you are, princess! Don't cry– your knight is here!"

You're his little darling, all vulnerable without him guiding you

Donnie

Obsessive + Controlling

Poor Othello Von Ryan felt that his inventions weren't enough for his family(but he would never admit that)

You asked about one of his inventions and he immediately became an excited little boy on christmas morning

Praise him. Tell him he did a good job. He's weak at the knees

Finally, someone sees his genius!

He rarely shows emotion. But when he's alone, a dark voice drives him mad with horrible thoughts

You're just so precious! You mean the world to him!

Tends to stare. He likes to admire you but would never make eye contact

However, if you resist him, he won't hesitate to punish you

However, he's smart and thinks about aforementioned punishment. He wants to find the best way to break you

He's knows what he's doing is illegal and you don't like it, but he doesn't care

Get's jealous very easily

Either he'll kill those... pests or his tech will

"I don't express my feelings very much, but I love you dearly. You're just too paranoid to see that right now."

Mikey

Delusional + Worshipper

Mikey develops an obsession quite rapidly

You're an angel to him! A goddess even!

Mikey believes that you can do no wrong and that nothing is ever your fault

He memorizes your routine and likes to sit outside your window at night

You just look adorable! So peaceful!

He considers you his "muse"

Pictures of you fill his sketch book and line the walls of his room

He believes that you love him just as much as he loves you

You visit the lair and greet him first? Oh, you little flirt!

You hug him a few seconds longer than you did Leo or Raph? You're dying to touch him as much he does with you!

He believes he is the best choice for you and that no one is worthy of your presence

But, if you try and resist him, he'll just tie you up in his kusari-fundo and cuddle you

Drugs your food if he gets that upset. Only sleeping pills, it's the only thing he has access to

He treats you like you solved world hunger

Oh no, your friend was murdered? How terrible!

You wouldn't blame him, would you?

"You're so pretty, like a goddess!"

[synthetic-ultramarine]

"be curious, try different settings, figure things out" is a pretty fair expectation to have for someone using a home computer they bought for hobby purposes. many hobbyists i know have had the most difficulty with this process when trying to shut off cortana, the resource using personal digital assistant that nobody wants, but i guess that's beside the point.

The point is that i'd guess at least half of all interactions between a human being and a windows computer take place in a professional context, not as a hobby activity. Windows has been The Business OS for decades. And if you've ever done tech support youd know that its common practice for some or all settings to be blocked from user access on work computers. "Just change the settings" is useless advice for this situation. And this situation is one of the most common uses of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Another thing youd know if you'd ever done tech support is that while experimenting with the advanced settings menu might work for sexy young hackers like us, it doesnt work for other demographics, such as "elderly people who should have retired from accounting 15 years ago and are only still working because they're too poor to retire."

[theineated]

Something being illegal means it has consequences for the companies that do it anyways. Laws do not exist in a vacuum, they are enforced by the EU. Many big tech companies have already been forced to comply with the law. Google and other companies are NOT empathetic and moral but they care about extracting profit from their (potential) european user base and losing profit to lawsuits and fines. I agree that humanism is useless, but OP was not talking about moral appeal, they were talking about law, which has real-world consequences.

For example, Meta will have to change how it handles people's data in the EU after it ruled that it can't force them to agree to personalized ads:

The technology you were talking about (Bard AI) has been revised to assure it complies with our GDPR before entering the EU:

Other technologies haven't even been allowed yet into the EU because of their failure to comply with GDPR, as is the case of meta's Threads:

Big tech companies have legal teams whose purpose is to assure their product complies with GDPR because they want to gain profit from europeans without facing billion-dollar lawsuits.

Law exists for a reason. Anyone is free to break the law but few are exempt from consequences, and big tech companies know that not complying with EU law will have them.

Anyone could mug me tomorrow even though stealing is illegal, but I don't board up my windows and refuse to go outside. If I get mugged, I won't appeal to the mugger's sense of morality or decide to never get out of my house again, because there is a system in place that prosecutes muggers.

It is obviously your decision to live in fear (I am assuming you are USAmerican and it is your default state to be suspicious of everyone around you) and I'm glad that you want to inform people about the dangers of big tech companies, but you are crossing the line of fear mongering. Besides, telling people that legal regulations are useless and they should fend for themselves is a sure way to let companies fuck us over further. You as an individual consumer will never have more power over a company than a continent's legal institutions. Turning people away from supporting said institutions makes them have less power to protect us all in return.

To anyone else reading this, be careful about your data, inform yourself about the regulations that apply in your area and elevate your concerns to the corresponding institution.

Hey guys! Since ao3 is down and we're all craving fics, would anybody want to join a shared drive folder and upload their downloaded ao3 fics to it with folders divided by fandoms/ships/gen etc for anyone to read?

But please, anyone who uses it has to go give kudos and thank the writers in the comments after the attacks are over, we can get through this!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Watomatic, for lower Whatsapp switching costs

Any discussion of monopolization of the web is bound to include the term “network effects,” and its constant companion, “natural monopolies.” This econojargon is certainly relevant to the discussion, but really needs the oft-MIA idea of “switching costs.”

A technology has “network effects” when its value grows as its users increase, attracting more users, making it more valuable, attracting more users.

The classic example is the fax machine: one fax is useless, two is better, but when everyone has a fax, you need one too.

Social media and messaging obviously benefit significantly from network effects: if all your friends are on Facebook (or if it’s where your kid’s Little League games are organized, or how your work colleagues plan fun activities), you’ll feel enormous pressure to join.

Indeed, in these days of Facebook’s cratering reputation, it’s common to hear people say, “I’m only on FB because my friends are there,” and then your friends say, “I’m only there because you are there.”

It’s a form of mutual hostage-taking.

That hostage situation illustrates (yet) another economic idea: “collective action problems.” There are lots of alternatives to Facebook, but unless you can convince everyone on Facebook to pick one and move en masse, you’ll just end up with yet another social account.

This combination of network effects and collective action problems leads some apologists for tech concentration to call the whole thing a “natural monopoly” — a system that tends to be dominated by a single company, no matter how hard we try.

Railroads are canonical “natural monopolies.” Between the costs of labor and capital and the difficulty in securing pencil-straight rights-of-way across long distances, it’s hard to make the case for running a second set of parallel tracks for a competing company’s engines.

Other examples of natural monopolies include cable and telephone systems, water and gas systems, sewer systems, public roads, and electric grids.

Not coincidentally, these are often operated as public utilities, to keep natural monopolies from being abused by greedy jerks.

But the internet isn’t a railroad. Digital is different, because computers are universal in a way that railroads aren’t — all computers can run all programs that can be expressed in symbolic logic, and that means we can almost always connect new systems to existing ones.

Open up a doc in your favorite word processor and choose “Save As…” and just stare in awe and wonder at all the different file-formats you can read and write with a single program. Some of those formats are standardized, while others are proprietary and/or obsolete.

It’s easier to implement support for a standard, documented format, but even proprietary formats pose only a small challenge relative to the challenge presented by, say, railroads.

Throw some reverse-engineering and experimentation at a format like MS DOC and you can make Apple Pages, which reads and writes MS’s formats (which were standardized shortly after Pages’ release, that is, after the proprietary advantage of the format was annihilated).

This is not to dismiss the ingenuity of the Apple engineers who reversed Microsoft’s hairball of a file-format, but rather, to stress how much harder their lives would have been if they were dealing with railroads instead of word-processors.

During Australia’s colonization, every state had its own governance and its own would-be rail-barons. Each state laid its own gauge of rail-track, producing the “multi-gauge muddle” — which is why, 150+ years later, you can’t get a train from one end of Oz to the other.

Hundreds of designs for interoperable rolling stock have been tried, but it’s proven impossible to make a reliable car that retracts one set of wheels and drops a different one.

The solution to the middle-gauge muddle? Tear up and re-lay thousands of kilometers of track.

Contrast that with the Windows users who discovered that Pages would read and write the thousands of documents they’d authored and had to exchange with colleagues: if they heeded the advice of the Apple Switch ads, they could buy a Mac, move their files over, and voila!

Which brings me to switching costs. The thing that make natural monopolies out of digital goods and services are high switching costs, including the collective action problem of convincing everyone to quit Facebook or start using a different word-processor.

These switching costs aren’t naturally occurring: they are deliberately introduced by dominant firms that want to keep their users locked in.

Microsoft used file format obfuscation and dirty tricks (like making a shoddy Mac Office suite that only offered partial compatibility with Windows Word files) to keep the switching costs high.

By reverse-engineering and reimplementing Word support, Apple obliterated those switching costs — and with them, the collective action problem that created Word’s natural monopoly.

Once Pages was a thing, you didn’t have to convince your friends to switch to a Mac at the same time as you in order to continue collaborating with them.

Once you get an email-to-fax program, you can discard your fax machine without convincing everyone else to do the same.

Interoperability generally lowers switching costs. But adversarial interoperability — making something new that connects to something that already exists, without its manufacturer’s consent — specifically lowers deliberate switching costs.

Adversarial interoperability (or “competitive compatibility,” AKA “comcom”) is part of the origin story of every dominant tech company today. But those same companies have gone to extraordinary lengths to extinguish it.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

Just as a new company may endorse standardization when it’s trying to attract customers who would otherwise be locked into a “ecosystem” of apps, service, protocols and parts, so too do new companies endorse reverse-engineering and comcom to “fix” proprietary tech.

But every pirate wants to be an admiral. Once companies attain dominance, they start adding proprietary extensions to the standard and fighting comcom-based interoperability, decrying it as “hacking” or “theft of intellectual property.”

In the decades since Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook were upstarts, luring users away from the giants of their days, these same companies have labored to stretch copyright law, terms of service, trade secrecy, patents and other rules to ban the tactics they once used.

This has all but extinguished comcom as a commercial practice. Today’s comcom practitioners risk civil and criminal liability and struggle to get a sympathetic hearing from lawmakers or the press, who have generally forgotten that comcom was once a completely normal tactic.

The obliteration of comcom is why network effects produce such sturdy monopolies in tech — and there’s nothing “natural” about those monopolies.

If you could leave Facebook but still exchange messages with your friends who hadn’t wised up, there’d be no reason to stay.

In other words, the collective action problem that the prisoners of tech monopolies struggle with is the result of a deliberate strategy of imposing high technical and legal burdens to comcom, in order to impose insurmountable switching costs.

I wrote about this for Wired UK back in April, comparing the “switching costs” the USSR imposed on my grandmother when she fled to Canada in the 1940s to the low switching costs I endured when I emigrated from Canada to the UK to the USA:

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/social-media-competitive-compatibility

Today, there’s a group of tech monopoly hostages who are stuck behind their own digital iron curtain, thanks to Facebook’s deliberate lock-in tactics: the users of Whatsapp, a messaging company that FB bought in 2014.

Whatsapp was a startup success: founded by privacy-focused technologists who sensed users were growing weary of commercial surveillance, they pitched their $1 service as an alternative to Facebook and other companies whose “free” products extracted a high privacy price.

Facebook bought Whatsapp, stopped the $1 charge, and started spying. In response to public outcry, the Facebook product managers responsible for the app assured its users that the surveillance data WA extracted wouldn’t be blended with Facebook’s vast database of kompromat.

That ended this year, when every Whatsapp user in the world got a message warning them that Facebook had unilaterally changed Whatsapp’s terms of service and would henceforth use the app’s surveillance data alongside the data it acquired on billions of people by other means.

Downloads of Whatsapp alternatives like Signal and Telegram surged, and Facebook announced it would hold off on implementing the change for three months. Three months later, on May 15, Facebook implemented the change and commenced with the promised, more aggressive spying.

Why not? After all, despite all of the downloads of those rival apps, Whatsapp usage did not appreciably fall. Convincing all your friends to quit Whatsapp and switch to Signal is a lot of work.

If the holdout is — say — a beloved elder whom you haven’t seen in a year due to lockdown, then the temptation to keep Whatsapp installed is hard to resist.

What if there was a way to lower those collective action costs?

It turns out there is. Watomatic is a free/open source “autoresponder” utility for Whatsapp and Facebook that automatically replies to messages with instructions for reaching you on a rival service.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parishod.watomatic

It’s not full interoperability — not a way to stay connected to those friends who won’t or can’t leave Facebook’s services behind — but it’s still a huge improvement on the nagging feeling that people you love are wondering why you aren’t replying to their messages.

The project’s sourcecode is live on Github, so you can satisfy yourself that there isn’t any sneaky spying going on here:

https://github.com/adeekshith/watomatic

It’s part of a wider constellation of Whatsapp mods, which have their origins in a Syrian reverse-engineer whose Whatsapp comcom project was picked up and extended by African modders who produced a constellation of Whatsapp-compatible apps.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/african-whatsapp-modders-are-masters-worldwide-adversarial-interoperability

These apps are often targeted for legal retaliation by Facebook, so it’s hard to find them in official app stores where they might be vetted for malicious code.

It’s a strategy that imposes a new switching cost on Whatsapp’s hostages, in the form of malware risk.

Legal threats are Facebook’s default response to comcom. That’s how they responded to NYU’s Ad Observer, a plugin that lets users scrape and repost the political ads they’re served.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/04/553000000-reasons-not-let-facebook-make-decisions-about-your-privacy

Ad Observer lets independent researchers and journalists track whether Facebook is living up to its promises to block paid political disinformation. Facebook has made dire legal threats to shut this down, arguing that we should trust the company to mark its own homework.

Whatsapp lured users in by promising privacy. It held onto them post-acquisition by promising them their data would be siloed from Facebook’s main databases.

When it reneged on both promises, it papered this over by with a dialog box where they had to click I AGREE.

This “agreement” is a prime example of “consent theater,” the laughable pretense that Facebook is “making an offer” and the public is “accepting the offer.”

https://onezero.medium.com/consent-theater-a32b98cd8d96

Most people never read terms of service — but even when they do, “agreements” are subject to unilateral “renegotiation” by companies that engineered high switching costs as a means of corralling you into clicking “I agree” to things no rational person would ever agree to.

Consent theater lays bare the fiction of agreement. Real agreement is based on negotiation, and markets are based on price-signals in which buyers and sellers make counteroffers.

A “market” isn’t a place where a dominant seller names a price and then takes it from you.

Comcom is a mechanism for making these counteroffers. Take ad-blockers, which Doc Searls calls “the largest consumer boycott in history.” More than a quarter of internet users have installed an ad-block, fed up with commercial surveillance.

This is negotiation, a counteroffer. Big Tech — and the publications it colonizes — demand you give them everything, all the data they can extract, for every purpose they can imagine, forever, as a condition of access.

Ad-block lets you say “Nah.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

The fiction that tech barons have “discovered” the “price” that the public is willing to pay for having a digital life is a parody of market doctrine. Without the ability to counteroffer — in code, as well as in law — there is no price discovery.

Rather, there is price-setting.

Not coincidentally, “the ability to set prices” is the textbook definition of an illegal monopoly.

[asmileyoucouldbottle]

elevator buttons (and morning air) - cressder

@winterrhayle THIS IS SO LATE I’M SORRY ELLIE ILY <3 for the smgh gift exchange!

word count: 2137

cress asks her (very cute) apartment neighbor to help her catch a spider, while struggling with infatuation.

- <3 -

“Um… hello?” 

The confused face of Cress’ next apartment neighbor searched her own, and Cress wondered if it was too late to back out.  They’d made eye contact exactly once  before, when they’d gotten in the elevator together. The girl had returned her smile, so Cress figured she was nice enough. 

A singular smile was probably not the best basis for asking a favor of someone at 7am. Especially this kind of favor. And talking to strangers was very high up on the list of “things Cress hates.” 

It was definitely too early for this. 

Then the sight of the spider that had crawled across her keyboard filled her mind and she shuddered in her slippers.

“Erm… hi.” Cress wound her hand in her hair, very aware that it was early and she’d probably just woken this girl up. However, as she looked her neighbor up and down, Cress realized that she looked very much awake- with a smudge of grease over her eye and hands covered in work gloves.

She also realized that grease, googles, and all, her neighbor was pretty.

Talking to strangers was one, very stressful, thing, but pretty strangers she was attracted to? Abort, abort. 

“Come in?” Cress was grateful as the stranger pushed the door open, despite the fact that she hadn’t managed to come up with anything to say. Cress shuffled in, her overlong t-shirt she’d slept in brushing her knees. Despite the grease stained work tank top her neighbor was wearing, she still had sleep shorts on, which made Cress feel a little better about being in her pjs. 

Cress cleared her throat awkwardly, her hands straying to braid her hair subconsciously. “I’m Cress, and I live next door?”

Great initiative! You sounded like you were asking her a question!

“Cinder.” The girl- Cinder- introduced herself hesitantly. “Nice to meet you?”

“Can you help me get rid of a spider?”  Cress blurted, hands in her hair coming to a standstill.

Cinder looked slightly taken aback, but bemused. “Sure?”

Cress breathed an internal sigh of relief. Thank God. She isn’t even looking at me like I’m weird. 

“I was finishing an assignment when a huge one went across my keyboard, and it was, like, three inches long. Well maybe not that big, but you get the point. I hate spiders… ” She realized she was starting to ramble and flushed, strangling her hands in her hair. “I’m sorry to bother you, especially in the morning.” She emphasised.

Cinder shrugged. “It’s no problem, I was up early working on an assignment anyways.”

The assurance gave Cress barely any relief. “I can offer you food?” She added, hoping to smooth over the fact that she existed.

Cinder laughed, and the slight tension in the room was released. “In that case, I’m sold.”

Cress peered over Cinder's shoulder, and caught sight of a workbench pushed against the corner of the room. Perched on the edge was what looked like… 

“A bot?”  Cress loved coding AI tech, and was actually majoring in computer science.

“Yeah, I’m a mechanic, well technically an engineer, but I do some other personal projects on the side.”

“That’s so cool!” Cress felt her grip loosen from it’s anxious hold. “I’m a coder, and AI tech is some of my favorite.” 

“Really? I have a bot named Iko, and she’s been mentioning something about color changing eyes? While she loves my physical additions and such, I’m sure she’d appreciate some technological improvements.”

Cress beamed. “Wow, a personal bot? I’d love to check her out sometime!”

“That would be great.” Cinder held her gaze for half a second, before they both looked away. It might’ve been Cress’ ever overactive imagination, but she could’ve sworn she felt sparks. Then again, that happened every time her useless lesbian self made eye contact with a pretty girl, but still.

What is this, a rom-com?

Cinder cleared her throat, before leading them to the door. “Show the way?”

Cress leapt at the opportunity immediately, leading them to her apartment. Cress pushed open the door, forcing herself not to jump away as soon as it opened a crack.

“I’ll go first.” Cinder must’ve noticed her anxiety, and she gave her a comforting smile that both soothed Cress’ heart and made it beat more erratically.

Taking a steadying breath, Cress followed Cinder in, leaving the door open in case she needed to make a quick exit.

Cinder grabbed a glass from the counter, which also made Cress feel lighter. Setting spiders free was better than killing them, even if they were spiders the size of her thumb.

“By your laptop right?” Cinder gestured to the work table, and Cress nodded with a nervous gulp. 

A leg crawled up and over the desk and Cress jumped, clinging to Cinder. The tan girl sagged under the sudden weight, one arm coming up to support her from underneath.

The sudden touch made Cress freeze. She realized her arms were wrapped around Cinder’s neck, and she was clinging rather tightly. I just quite literally jumped into a super cute stranger’s arms. Stars help me.

Cress considered hopping down, when the spider ran across the floor by Cinder’s feet.  She squeaked, and clung tighter. She vaguely thought of how awkward this must be to Cinder, but there no fucking way she was touching the same ground the spider was on. 

Also, Cinder was remarkably buff and did not seem to be struggling at all. 

Must be all the mechanic work? Cress thought with a slight flush.

Stop thinking about a girl’s muscles! We’re in the middle of a crisis here!

Cinder scuffed her foot, and the spider raced back up to the table. Cress winced, and watched through partially closed eyes in awe as with her free hand, Cinder dropped the cup upturned on the spider.

“I got it!” Cinder’s voice was right besides her ear, and Cress widened her eyes. The spider was indeed secure in the glass, and Cinder’s hair was in her eye.

With a blush, she fully realized her position once more. Her heart sped even faster than before, which she didn’t know was possible. Cinder smelled of car grase and faintly cinnamon. A combination that was shockingly attractive. The thought made her flush even deeper, as was the fact that her bare legs were gripping a small strip of the neighbor’s midsection where her shirt had ridden up.

“Ahaha,” Cress laughed awkwardly, doing a weird shoulder pat thingy. “Thank you.” Is this flirting? 

Cinder tilted her head to look at Cress, and from their position, the movement made their faces remarkably close. With yet another squeak, Cress dropped to the ground so fast she stumbled.

“You’re welcome.” Cinder’s voice was bemused as she bit her lip in an attempt not to smile. It was distracting, but soon Cress was giggling. Cinder joined her, and all her anxiety melted. 

“Alright, there’s still Part 2.” Cinder cautioned, gesturing to the spider. Cress considered it. 

“We can drop it in the flowersill.” Cress suggested, gesturing to the window.

“Flowersill?” Cinder repeated.

“Oh.” Cress flushed a tiny bit in embarrassment again. “I don’t exactly know the word for it but like, those cute little flower beds that attach to windows?”

Cinder shrugged with a smile. “Works for me.”

After poking around a bit, Cress came back with a piece of paper. Cinder bit back a smile again, and Cress found her gaze pulled to her lips. “This part might get a little scary, if you need to hop in my arms again.” She said it wryly, teasingly, but Cress suppressed the urge to bury her head in her hands and disappear forever.

Rather than jumping into Cinder’s arms again, she settled for hopping on the counter and keeping all parts of her body away from the table and floor. From her new perch, Cress watched as Cinder slid the paper under and brought the spider to the window to release it. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Cress gave Cinder a wide smile when she turned back to her. Cinder smiled back, and her eyes crinkled. Cress’ heart fluttered again.

“So… grease huh?” Cress realized what a weird conversation starter that was and blushed as Cinder raised an eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“Well- you smelled like it and there was some above your eyes and well-” Cress stuttered to a rambling stop because she really didn’t know how to explain why she said that. She didn’t know why she said that.

“Oh.” It was Cinder’s turn to blush as she scrubbed at her eye. The grease stubbornly remained, and Cinder’s nose was wrinkling with concentration through the effort. Cress tried to repress a smile, but it was impossible.

“Here, let me help.” Reaching to the side, she picked up a cloth off the counter. Running it under water until it was damp, Cress gestured Cinder forward. Hesitantly, her neighbor stepped towards her, and Cress lifted the cloth. Carefully, she brushed away a few strands of hair, and Cinder’s breath hitched a bit. Cress thought hers did too. She gently rubbed at the grease, and with the soap on the cloth, it came off of Cinder’s reddening face with little effort. 

“Maybe we should try a collab sometime?” Cinder seemed to almost blurt it, catching Cress by such surprise she almost dropped the cloth. The moment had felt like a pause, and the disruption startled her. The girl had seemed so calm and collected, but the chink in the armor was just as nervous as Cress.

Despite her initial surprise, she glowed at the suggestion to spend more time getting to know her cute next door neighbor, and resisted jumping off the counter and spinning.

“That would be amazing.” Cress hopped a bit in excitement, and Cinder gave her a fond smile.

“Do you want to stay for breakfast?” Cress wasn’t sure what compelled her to ask, and she buried her hands back in her brown tangle of hair.

“Oh!” Cinder seemed pleasantly surprised, and Cress beamed. “That would be great!”

“How do pancakes sound?” Cress crossed to the fridge, practically buzzing with excitement as Cinder followed right behind her.

“Amazing. And can I help?” Cinder was right at her shoulder and Cress nodded, uncertain if she could find coherent words as she got out the supplies for pancakes.

Cinder grabbed a bowl that was, unbeknownst to her, filled with pancake powder.  Her face lifted in shock  as it poofed out of the bowl, covering her features in a layer of powder. Their laughs mingled as they poured water into the mix, and Cress felt lighter than she had in weeks. Cinder took to sitting while Cress heated the stove and got the eggs going. Occasionally, she would sneak a look over at powder-covered Cinder and grin to herself. One time she almost burnt the eggs as she got distracted.

"Here." Taking a dishrag from the stove handle, Cress swiped it quickly around Cinder's face - considering - a little too late that she just should've just given the rag to her. Two times in one day!

Cinder coughed a bit, her hands going to fiddle with the ends of her sleeves as she leaned back on her heels, pink in the cheeks.

"Thanks." She managed. Cress smiled, plating the eggs and getting ready to start cooking the pancakes.

After a few minutes, they had settled into a steady conversation about their studies and work. Cress filled with excitement as they discussed plans to build a robot that could make them ice cream. It had started as a joke, but the more they talked about it, the more realistic the idea became.

"I would make sure it has strawberry for myself." Cress was saying. "What about you."

"Butter pecan." Cinder responded immediately.

"Oooh, good choice. French vanilla would be my second."

"Me too!" Cinder replied. "Nothing wrong with a classic."

"Agreed!"

The more they conversed, the more Cress was enamored with Cinder's wit and sharp mind. She'd always been a romantic, falling in love quickly. But she'd learned her lesson in the past, and was happy to bide her time and truly get to know Cinder.

A timer on her phone rang, and Cress jumped.

"My first class is in 15 minutes."

"Oh!" Cinder stood up as well. "Yeah.. here's my number." She scribbled it on a napkin. Cress grinned as she wrote hers on another napkin.

Handing it off to Cinder, their fingers brushed. It was far from the first contact they’d had this morning, but it filled Cress with a feeling of hope nonetheless.

Cinder tipped her head, giving Cress a simultaneously sweet and wry smile. “Call me if you see any more spiders.”

Cress laughed, waving at Cinder on her way out. “Will do.” 

She knew that spiders weren’t the only thing she’d be calling about.

[the-wereraven]

Darkest Mind AU lore tidbit #2

:)

Names: Cross Kairos - Croissant Cookie Timora Kairos - Timekeeper Cookie

  Cross jolted awake in cold sweat. She sat up and clutched her chest, trying to process her nightmare.   Looking around, Cross saw concrete walls and floors instead of trees and roads. And right across the room was another bed, with Timora sleeping on it, back turned to her.   Oh… right. Cross sighed and rubbed her eyes. We’re not on the streets anymore…   Cross laid back down, staring at the concrete ceiling. It’s been about two days since she and Timora had been taken to this place, wherever it was. She didn’t know much about the location, only that it seemed to be a base of sorts.   She could never forget that day, when the adults had appeared and captured her and her sibling.   They had reached the town that day, seeking to find information on the Children’s League, hoping to be able to get on their radar to be found and protected.   But instead they found a group of adults. They had tried to run, but Cross wasn’t fast enough and got caught.   Timora could’ve used their abilities, they could have easily helped them get away… but fate truly was against them, for Timora was instantly knocked out with a pipe. Cross had truly thought they were dead then.   Everything had happened so quickly, and the next thing Cross knew, she and Timora were here in this room. Timora thankfully woke up, though they could have been faring much better if they hadn’t felt like the world was spinning.   The door was locked, and no amount of ramming the door was going to do anything. There wasn’t even anything in the room they could’ve used, only the blankets and pillows. But it wasn’t like there were any windows they could try to escape from.   Timora had tried mind controlling the adults who came to give them food, but it was no good. The meals were given through slots in the doors, meaning the adults had no reason to carry keys to the cell. And by the time Timora could get them to find someone who did have a key, they’d be out of range.   Though what Cross hated the most was that when she and Timora were being captured, no other adults came to help. The other adults only stood and watched…   ‘A nightmare again?’   Cross turned to see that Timora had turned over on their bed, facing her now.   ‘Sorry… Did I wake you?’ Cross asked, wondering if her nightmare or thoughts were too loud for Timora.   They only shrugged, smiling a bit. ‘It’s kinda hard to ignore your worry over me.’ they said.   Both went quiet when they heard footsteps echoing outside the halls. A light passed underneath the door, and soon disappeared along with the footsteps.   When the footsteps faded, Timora got out of bed and went to Cross’ sitting on the edge as they whispered ‘Wanna talk about it?’   Cross sat up again, drawing her knees up to her chest as she sighed. ‘I dreamt…’ she muttered, ‘that we were running to town… We were panicking, I don’t know why though. All I know is that we were trying to escape someone, an adult.   ‘Then I suddenly got caught… A-and the adult pointed a gun at me, th-they threatened to shoot me, a-and-and y-you were angry. Y-you told them to let me go, you-you used your powers to get them t-to drop me… B-but they didn’t. Th-they pointed the gun a-at you instead. A-and they… they…’   Timora placed their hand on Cross’ unable to watch her continue. But they knew the answer, she was repeating over and over in her head.   They killed you.   ‘Cross,’ Timora called, ‘Cross, look at me. I’m fine, see? I’m right here with you. Nothing bad is going to happen to me, Cross.’   Cross wasn’t convinced however, and wiped away her tears. ‘But what if something does?’ she asked, ‘I- I got us in so much trouble… What if the next time I mess up, it kills you?’   ‘Nothing you do is going to get me killed,’ Timora said, ‘and not everything is your fault.’   They pat her hand. ‘I know you feel like everything that happened is your fault, but it’s not, I promise.   ‘We Psi have it hard… that is a given. Adults are always trying to hunt us down and bring us to camps or kill us, even those forsaken “clans” try to steal our stuff and leave us for dead. The odds are against us as it is, and you’re just doing your best to survive.’   ‘It’s not really my best if I keep getting caught…’   Timora sighed to themself. They truly didn’t know what to say to make Cross feel better. But they tried anyway.   ‘I think we would’ve been caught more if it wasn’t for your powers.’ they said, continuing when Cross fixed them with a look of confusion. ‘Think about it, I know the basics when it comes to tech, but I can’t replay a loop on a single camera. You, however, can play a loop on multiple. And that’s just one example.’   Cross huffed out a chuckle, ‘Well… If you put it that way…’ she muttered.   Timora smiled and patted Cross’ shoulder, ‘My powers can only take me so far, but luckily for me, your massive head is here to save me.’   ‘My head is not massive.’ Cross retorted, smacking away Timora’s hand. ‘How dare you.’ she said with a grin.   The two chuckled a little, and Timora stood from Cross’ bed. ‘Get some rest now,’ they said to her, ‘We’ll figure something out tomorrow.’   Cross nodded and laid back onto the bed, watching as Timora returned to their own bed. ‘Goodnight,’ she said.   ‘Goodnight.’

  The door was unlocked the next afternoon.   Both Cross and Timora stood up from where they stood, conversation dying. They hadn’t expected anyone to come after breakfast, yet alone to come and open the door.   The door swung open, and on the other side were about 4 adults, with two carrying scary looking guns. Cross didn’t recognize what kind it was, but it seemed much more dangerous than the pistols and shotguns that skip tracers used.   The adult with the keys stepped aside, allowing the one behind him to step forward.   Timora itched to use their powers against the adults, knowing that they were powerful enough to do so. But then they noticed the small EMP device-like object hanging from his belt. A White Noise machine.   It was not uncommon for PSFs to carry those, but skip tracers very rarely had them. So how did this man get his hands on one?   He must have noticed Timora looking at his White Noise machine, for he grinned and took it off his belt, waving it in front of the two teens. ‘A beauty, isn’t it?’ he asked. He turned the device towards him, turning the dial so that it pointed at the green bar. ‘Got quite lucky with it.’   The man lifted his thumb, as if he was going to activate the device, and Cross and Timora stiffened to brace for the horrid sound.   But instead of a sharp, painful shriek, they heard a laugh instead.   ‘Now that’s the reaction of some kids who’ve heard of this “White Noise” thing.’ the man said.   Cross scowled, but it quickly disappeared as the man looked at her and Timora more closely.   He hummed to himself, as if thinking. ‘You sure you two are Greens?’ he asked, though he seemed to specifically be talking to Timora. ‘You don’t look like a Green.’   Cross tried her best to hide her shock. Did this man know that Timora wasn’t a Green? But most importantly, did he know what colour she fell under?   Instead of answering his question, Timora frowned and asked ‘Who are you?’   ‘Ah, that’s right…’ the man muttered, clearly unhappy that he was talked back to. ‘You kids may just refer to me as Mercer. I run an organization known as Blue Star.’   ‘And what do you want with us? We’re just useless Greens…’ Timora hoped that Cross knew that they didn’t mean it when they said “useless,” but maybe if they could... convince Mercer to let them go…   Mercer chuckled, though it was strained. ‘Ah, luckily for us, we have uses for Greens like you.’   He then turned to the adults with guns and nodded to them.   Cross stepped away as one of the adults came towards her, but she hit the wall behind her and her arm was grabbed. ‘Hey! Let go!’ she shouted as she struggled, though she knew full well that no one would listen.   Timora snarled at the adult who came towards them, stepping away as well. They reached into the adult’s mind, and had been saying ‘Don’t you dare come near me.’ when suddenly the White Noise filled the room.   Both teens immediately crumpled under the noise.   Timora tried to think through the noise, tried to use their ability to make Mercer turn the machine off. But all they could hear was the sharp shriek of the White Noise.   But they saw Cross reacting worse to it. The noise must have been tuned to Greens, which made Timora fear that Mercer will suspect that something was wrong with their claims.   But Mercer hadn’t been looking, and turned off the machine before long. ‘Let’s try that again, shall we?’ he asked.   Cross felt as if she couldn’t breathe, her head hurt terribly from the White Noise, and she could barely stand when the guard who grabbed her yanked her up.   She looked to Timora, who used the wall to support themself, pretending that they had been affected badly as well. They glanced at Cross, and she heard a faint ‘Sorry’ in her head as they were yanked away by the other guard.   This time, neither Cross nor Timora fought back.   They were dragged out of their cell, and much to their dismay, they were being led in different directions.   Cross looked back just as Timora did, but while a single guard took her away, Timora had the guard, the key-holder and Mercer with them. They weren’t going to be mind controlling their way out of this, not with the White Noise machine right behind them. Not when they didn’t know where they were and where Cross would be.   It’s okay, Cross heard, We’ll be okay. I won’t disappear.   Cross almost fell as the guard yanked her forward, forcing her to walk in front of them with their gun pointed to her back.   More than ever, she hoped fate was with them.

[mxndoscyarika]

Honeydew (Marcus Pike/Moreno x OC) | Chapter 1

Summary: Erin He moves to DC after working for the FBI in Texas and runs into a hero in disguise; Marcus Moreno. Something about him is familiar, too familiar, yet different in a way that she can’t quite place. Although confused, she can’t deny her feelings for him; perhaps, after years of regret, she finally found the one.

Warnings: food/drink mention

Ao3

Honeydew masterlist

Like my writing? Here’s my masterlist.

Author’s Note: I’m so excited for you all to read this story! Special thanks go to Lynn (@mindless--ramblings​​) for always being so supportive and helping me stay inspired! Ever since I found out Pedro now has two characters named Marcus, I’ve wondered about ways I could connect them in one piece of writing. And this? This is that piece of writing. Moreno won’t be making an appearance in this one, but I hope Pike will make up for that 😉 Enjoy!

Ground floor.

First floor.

Second.

Erin He took a deep breath, thankful that the elevator was empty. She straightened the collar of her shirt as the fourth floor approached. At her side was her government-issued laptop, which she’d picked up from the front desk. Her fingers gripped its edges tightly. This was it. She made it.

The elevator let out a soft ding and opened its doors, revealing a floor of cubicles and conference rooms. Austin sunlight filtered through large windows, illuminating the space alongside the bright fluorescent lights.

She stepped out, searching for the art theft department’s main office. As much as she understood the need for technology specialists across all the FBI’s branches, she never quite grasped why she was placed in the art theft department, of all places. She always thought she’d be in the operational technologies department, developing and maintaining tools for others to use. Though she couldn’t blame them; intellectual property was highly valued and often stolen.

The email said to report to the department supervisor’s office for a quick onboarding, but they didn’t exactly mention what it would be. It could’ve been anything from a quick handshake to being told to shadow a coworker. Hopefully the former.

Part of her begged to the gods of computer science that she wouldn’t be assigned to yet another condescending old white man. Her last welcome at a company had been less than mediocre, and lukewarm at best.

The other part of her nagged that she’d signed up for exactly that.

“Ah, there you are. Welcome to your first day, Special Agent He,” the department supervisor–Harold Strauss–greeted as she entered his office. He gestured to the man standing in front of his desk. “This is Agent Marcus Pike. He will be showing you the ropes today.”

Agent Pike looked at her over his shoulder, the corners of his lips curling in a friendly smile. He couldn’t have been much older than her, with his faint smile lines and soft brown hair. He tucked his hands into his pockets and turned around to face her.

“Thank you, sir,” she replied. She shook his hand and then extended her hand to Pike. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for taking time out of your day to show me around.”

“Likewise,” he replied, shaking her hand. His brown eyes sparkled as he proposed, “Should we start? I have a meeting in about half an hour, and I’m sure you’ll want to meet some of our operational techs and digital forensics team. They’re the backbone of everything we do here.”

They acknowledged their supervisor once more and then left to begin the tour.

As her personal guide gave her the rundown of the floor’s organization and workflow, Erin couldn’t help but sneak a couple more glances at him.

He was taller than her by a few inches, but not in such a way that she felt like shrinking into herself. And he always stayed at her side, never walking ahead or lagging behind. His strong jaw led her gaze to a pair of soft lips, which seemed to be in a perpetual smile as he talked about the breakthroughs the department had in the past days.

“Do you know where your desk is?” Pike asked.

“Yeah, they told me the other day,” she answered, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ears. They walked over to her assigned desk, which was barren save for a standard computer, box of pens, and notepad. “If you’re going to ask if I need help with setup, I think I should be alright for now. Nothing a few installations and linux commands can’t fix.”

He chuckled softly and nodded. “You’re living up to your title, Agent He. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I could’ve been much help even if I offered. Have you done work similar to this before?”

She shrugged. “I worked in cybersecurity and software development,” Erin replied, setting down her bag and laptop on her desk. Slipping off her black blazer, she continued, “But I figured I should do something more than just build products for tech companies. Use my skills to aid in investigations.”

He nodded in understanding. “I see what you mean. Actually, I was originally studying to be an art history professor. But then I found this job and figured I could use my knowledge to help find and preserve artworks.”

Hm, noble.

“Sounds like we aren’t so different,” she observed, following him across the officespace. “Let’s hope that I can be of help around here.”

He chuckled softly, the dimple in his cheek showing as he smiled. “I think you’ll fit right in.”

---

The words on the screen blurred into the white background of the screen, as if they were mocking her. Each line of test slowly lost its meaning, turning into mind-numbing strings.

Erin pushed her computer away and rubbed her eyes defeatedly, sighing. The department was launching an investigation regarding a museum that was broken into and wiped clean. What little data was left on the computers, from what she gathered after hours of poring over them, was largely useless. Hopefully, one of the other agents would find something helpful in the other remnants. Perhaps an address, or some sort of signature that could be traced to a group. Her, on the other hand? She just wasted hours of work.

A steaming cup of coffee was set down onto her desk, along with some sugar and tiny cups of cream.

She looked up to find Marcus–Pike, she reminded herself–standing at her side, looking down at her with a soft smile. “Find anything?”

“Nope,” she sighed. It turned out that Pike was one of the best agents in the department, and that meant he spent most of his time leading and organizing investigations. What that meant for Erin, then, was that she had to answer to him. Thankfully, he was never weird about it. Quite the opposite, actually. Tapping the side of the cup, she asked, “Is this for me?”

He laughed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah! Sorry; I would’ve fixed it, but I wasn’t sure how you liked your coffee.”

“Well it’s nothing complex, if that’s what you’re nervous about,” she teased. Two sugars and a drizzle of cream turned the pitch black liquid into a deep brown. She took a sip, the placebo of caffeine already kicking in. “When you’re in STEM, you learn to appreciate caffeine in any form. But I like it like this.”

“Noted,” he said, his voice a soft timbre amongst the flutter of papers and clacking of keys. Hands resting on his hips he asked, “How long do you think it’ll be before you find anything?”

“Anywhere from an hour to another three...or five,” she sighed, lazily scrolling down the file. Basking in the steam from her cup, she continued, “I’m gonna need a lot more of this coffee. There has to be something useful in this file, I just need to find it. I might need to cross-reference with some of the other evidence to notice anything.”

A headache was already descending upon her, and she was only six hours in. Weak–she’d stared at a computer much longer without any problem many times before. Why, of all times, did it have to happen when she was talking to her coworker?

“Well, I’ll be here pretty late tonight, so if you need anything, just let me know,” he replied, patting her shoulder. The crease between his brows deepened as he squinted down at the screen. “Maybe you need a fresh set of eyes on it. Take a break, Erin.” At her responding pout, he reasoned, “It’s been almost a month and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you rest.”

Of course he noticed her breaks, or lack thereof. She rolled her eyes, hiding a bashful smile in her cup. “I work best in sprints.”

He hummed amusedly. “But even sprinters need breaks, don’t they?” Then, his eyes lit up. “Actually, why don’t you take a break now?”

Erin raised a brow. “Am I not taking a break right now?”

His laugh was warm. “I mean a real break. Let’s get lunch; my treat.”

“Are you really going to make me choose between food and digital forensics, Agent Pike?”

Nodding definitively, he replied, “Yes, Agent He.”

Unable to resist the prospect of free lunch, she gave in and followed him out to his car. The work would still be there when she returned. For the moment, she could just enjoy Marcus’s companionship.

He drove out to a local diner about ten minutes away, his turns confident as if he’d gone there hundreds of times before. Judging by the way his eyes had sparked with joy at her agreement, he probably had.

They let their shoulders relax in the serenity of the car, shedding the formalities and passing time as if they were close friends.

The diner was small and cozy, booths worn with age and serving breakfast all day. Erin’s lips curled up in a little smile as the hostess recognized Marcus. So he was a regular, after all.

They sat down across from each other in a booth. Erin shrugged off her navy blue blazer and smoothed her dark hair back into a thick ponytail.

As she fixed her hair, Marcus gave her his recommendations, leaning in with the menu so she could follow along with her eyes. He seemed particularly fond of the pancakes, so she decided on those. Surely he wouldn’t lead her astray.

And with the way his voice rasped just slightly, she could listen to him speak for a whole day.

“Honey? Did you hear anything I said?” he asked, tilting his head slightly with a little smirk.

Erin snapped out of her reverie, cheeks burning. “Oh, um. Yeah. Sorry, I spaced out for a bit.”

“No worries, it happens to all of us,” he reassured, laying the menu flat on the table. “What were you thinking about?”

Less than an hour had passed before they were back in the office, stepping out of the elevator with full bellies. The familiar clicking from computers and buzz of conversations filled the air, and they were officially agents again.

Erin turned to him and nudged his arm. “Hey, thanks for the break.”

“Anytime,” he replied, walking with her along the perimeter of the room. They stopped at the hallway leading to the conference rooms and offices. His large hand moved to rest on her arm, his thumb rubbing gently. “I guess this is my stop. You know where to find me.”

“And you know where I’ll be.”

The next day, Marcus was greeted in his office by tupperwares containing homemade fried rice, some cut up fruit, and a sticky note.

Thanks for sticking with me yesterday. -E

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he tried to refrain from grinning like a maniac, though he was sure anyone who happened to pass by would’ve thought he looked like a schoolgirl with a crush. Erin’s handwriting was soft and curved, so similar to calligraphy but simple in a way that made the note feel that much more intimate.

She had an interesting way of showing her care for others, he found. Perhaps it was a byproduct of the work she dedicated her life to; she seemed to always be one step ahead, ready to pull out small details that others would dismiss. He wondered what she might know of him.

There were a few things she clearly knew; things that surprised him every day. Just as he’d learned her usual coffee order, she’d learned his. When he’d walk in every morning, her head of dark hair would tilt to peek over her cubicle, as if she could sense his presence. And when their eyes would meet, her smile was better than the best espresso in the world.

Marcus shook his head to himself as his heart fluttered. Years of failed relationships and a divorce later, he still couldn’t keep his feelings in check. His mother always said he had a soft heart, one that would be his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. But Erin was anything but a weakness.

She wasn’t a weakness, but a strength. A constant in his life, making each day feel just a little more special. He didn’t need a relationship to be happy, but….he wouldn’t be opposed to one either.

Yet, as he spotted Ian Malarkey standing a bit too close to her, he forced himself to backtrack. What if she didn’t want him? What if they were meant to be just as they were: just friends?

Maybe it was time for him to move on.

After a few months, their friendship had grown well past a workplace acquaintance. It wasn’t as if she was trying to get attached to him; it just...happened. And it was only a little surprising to her; she tried to stay as professional as she could in the office, but outside? Outside, she could just be Erin, not FBI Special Agent He. Outside, she could shed her jacket and swap the button-down shirt for a ribbed sweater and some jeans. Outside, she and Marcus could sit as close together as they wanted without drawing unwanted attention.

She knew it was silly to fantasize. After all, Marcus was a coworker, if not a superior. And with the way he fussed over her water intake and made sure that she wore her glasses at the right times, he could easily see her as a little sister. As nothing more than a new agent who happened to be friendly.

But if that were true, why would he go through the effort of bringing her lunch on Thursdays? Why did he call her little names like “honeydew” and “sweetheart,” and why did it feel so natural coming from his mouth?

The commotion coming from the direction of the conference rooms told her that the team was back from the investigation. Maybe Marcus was there; she knew he’d gone, but he hadn’t texted since morning. It wouldn’t hurt to pop in to check on him; he did that often enough with her.

When she entered the break room, her heart sank. Sitting off to the side, by the wall, was Marcus asking Teresa Lisbon out on a date. She wasn’t sure why she felt defeated;  it wasn’t like she had any plans on asking him out.

But then why did it hurt her to the core to see him giving those puppy eyes and little smiles to Lisbon? The woman didn’t even look interested in him; if anything, she looked confused and hesitant.

Ian caught her eye as she surveyed the room once more, his lips pulling into a tight-lipped smile. He knew about her feelings for Marcus, having spent hours going over evidence and making small talk. In fact, he’d even encouraged her to tell Marcus her feelings, out of fear that she might never get the chance.

Perhaps her chance had passed after all. Turning on her heel, Erin decided that, for once, it was time to go home. Marcus would come to her when he was less busy.

The thing was, though, she didn’t want to go home. She wanted to go over and say hello, and check to make sure he wasn’t injured in the scuffle. Moreover, she didn’t want to be a fill-in for Lisbon’s absence. She didn’t want to be his second choice. And she knew it wasn’t her fault, nor Lisbon’s, that Marcus didn’t choose her. But it still stung.

She watched as their shared lunches became less frequent, the senior agent replacing her space by Marcus’s side. When the elevator would ding at 7AM and she’d glance up to see if it was him, she found him searching the room for Lisbon. They never drifted over to her desk. That fact always made her grip her pen just a little tighter.

On the days when he did grace her with his presence, she felt like a tornado of emotions.

Happy, because she had missed her best friend.

Sad, because she knew the next time she’d spend time with him was in a few weeks rather than a few days.

Grateful, because she knew how hard it was to socialize after a work week of at least 50 hours.

Envious, because of the stories he told.

Relieved, because he still cared.

Plastering a halfhearted smile on her face, Erin listened to Marcus practically worship his girlfriend. His summer breeze of a smile and sparkling eyes made the pain that came with listening worth it. The only other time she’d heard him talk that passionately was when they’d visited an art museum.

At least one of them was happy.

She thought of trying to date again; it had been over a year since she’d been in a relationship. But she couldn’t do it. More than once, she’d put on some simple makeup and casual clothes, ready to head out to the bar, but no. She couldn’t bring herself to leave the apartment. The apartment was where she and Marcus watched movies, where she would cut up fruit and bring them to him on a plate while he pored over reports in the warm lights of the kitchen. It was where he’d navigate her cupboards and fridge to make her a mug of his special hot chocolate. It was her safe space, the one place in her life where she could just be Erin, and he could just be Marcus.

The knife cleaved the melon in half with ease, revealing its pale green interior.

Marcus leaned up against the counter next to her, hair tousled and necktie loosened against his chest. He absentmindedly started rolling up his sleeves, undoing the cuffs of his shirt and folding them up.

She tried not to stare too long at the way his forearms tensed with the movement.

He broke the silence first. “I got the job in DC,” he said, voice soft like velvet.

“That’s great.” A simple response, though Erin cringed internally. Was that any way to react to her best friend’s job promotion? Surely not, but a part of her–a selfish part of her–knew that it meant he was leaving. Leaving not just his position, but her. Texas. The apartment.

It would’ve been disingenuous for her to say anything more.

Then, he added, almost sheepishly, “I also asked Teresa to marry me. And move to DC so we can be together.”

The blade of her knife hit the cutting board a little harder than normal. “Oh. That’s nice.” Cutting away the tough outer skin, she forced herself to ask, “What did she say?”

He sighed and crossed his arms, biting his lip as if to contain a smile. “She said she’d think about it. But I think she’ll come around. I kind of, uh, sprung it onto her the other night.”

And yet there he was, standing next to a woman who would’ve been ready to say yes. But even so, she said, “I’m sure things will work out between you two. You’ve already given so much to your relationship; it would be a shame for her to not see how great you are.”

She slid him a bowl of perfectly cubed melon.

Smiling softly, he took the bowl into his hands. “You’re the best, honeydew.”

The best, but not the one.

“You’re just trying to get on my good side before you leave for DC, brown eyes,” she jested, nudging him with her elbow. Her chest filled with warmth at his laugh. She tried her best to hang onto that feeling, to that sound. “When are you two leaving?”

“I’m already about halfway packed,” he mused, chewing on a cube of honeydew thoughtfully. “So maybe within the week? I hope that’s enough time for Teresa to make a decision.”

There was less time than she thought. She hummed softly. “Are you sure that’s what she wants? That it’s what you want?”

He nodded confidently. “Yes, I...I know that I don’t have the best track record with relationships, but something about her feels right.” The bowl was set into the sink and filled with water. “I’m happy, honey. You don’t have to worry.”

Erin’s eyes burned as she quietly replied, “Okay.”

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[prince-toffee]

Villains

Part Two

The room was empty and bare. The room was very plain, no paintings or pictures hung or framed, no personalised items, no trinkets or mementos. The space was devoid of any personality or warmth. This partially due to the fact that everything personal was moved out of the room, and also the fact that the person whom once occupied these living quarters wasn’t one for forming close personal attachments. Shadow Weaver sat on a beautiful ornate wooden chair at the centre of the sterile room. She watched the blank dark green wall as she took a long sip from her glass of red wine.

That room was once hers. When she officially aligned with The Horde, she was given her own bed chamber as she had to live in The Fright Zone as an unspoken rule. Where else would have she been accepted? She had no where else to go. She was pleased with what she was given, the room was quite large, she had a queen sized bed, her own side bathroom, with a toilet, shower, sink, and bath all included. The bath in particular became a favourite location, useful in relaxation after a long day of dealing with cadets that made her blood boil and her blood pressure rise. Over time she did personalise the room, add various scented shampoos and what not, some artistic and yet horrifying paintings, and a study with all her work - reports, cadet exams, notices, and request forms over which she lost her mind too many times.

Her quiet pleasant contemplation was cut short as Force-Captain Cobalt’s voice invaded the room through the data-pad which leaned against one of the wooden legs of the chair she sat on. The blue porcupine man cleared his throat, “Umm, Sha- uh, Lord Shadow Weaver.”

“Speak.”

“All your personal belongings have been moved to Lor- to Hordak’s old Sanctum. But there’s another emergence that requires your attention.” Weaver sighed, she responded by saying she would be there in a few minutes. She downed the glass of wine in seconds, it was a good year, shame she couldn’t have savoured the taste, she had saved that bottle for a victorious occasion. And she couldn’t have thought of a better occasion.

The witch just discarded the glass by simply throwing it away, it shattered on impact, of course. But the brand new leader didn’t care. Not anymore. She was in charge, no consequences, it felt so freeing. The scarred woman shifted her mask over her grey face and moved out. She did not admit to another soul the fact that she was ashamed of her physical appearance, she never betrayed a weakness, she was distant therefore safe. There was logic and reason to her outfit - a frightening mask to deflect any questions about her face, a high collar to hide her neck, and then a layered robe to allow no part of her scarred, wounded, burned body to be seen. She implemented the opposite tactic to Hordak, he choose to show some flesh, some key areas of his body that were healthy and strong to deflect any suspicion or conspiracy of him being otherwise. Anyone who saw Hordak, as rare as it was, they all thought the dark Lord was a modern Adonis. Nobody suspected he was in fact a sick frail man who was slowly falling apart.

Shadow Weaver knew about Hordak’s ‘sickness’, and vis versa. There was a deal between them, both knew each other’s weakness, and so they formed a partnership to support one another. Hordak had the Black Garnet in his possession after acquiring the Scorpion Hill Kingdom, and so he handed the magical artefact to Shadow Weaver, he knew the Garnet was useless in his hands, he had no knowledge therefore no ability to utilise the Garnet. But Shadow Weaver could. She was brought in as his Minister of Magicks to advice the Horde in the magical ways, how to defend against magic, and how to weaponise magic in offense.

The rune stone gave her sufficient life force for her to leech off of, never again was she hungry. And she wielded the awesome power of the elemental mineral. In return Shadow Weaver took the spotlight off of Hordak, the duty of truly commanding the Horde’s forces, leaving Hordak free to do... whatever he did. Weaver never knew what Hordak did in his ‘Sanctum’, all she ever managed to get out of him was the fact he was working on a secret ‘experiment’, and she knew that much was a slip up. It didn’t matter now anyhow, all of Hordak’s secrets were going to be hers and if not, then they don’t matter anyway.

She waltzed through the corridors and hallways of red and green metal, pipes, and cables, at a leisurely pace. Unlike Hordak, who’s heavy metallic footsteps always alerted the soldiers ahead of time in the corridor, Shadow Weaver made no sound, didn’t allow any trooper to get ready, they had no idea she was coming. She scared the hellfire out of everyone she passed. They always jumped in shock, straightened themselves out and stiffened. Weaver liked that.

The noise of double doors sliding open marked her entrance into the throne room, her throne room. Her commanders turned to her and bowed. She liked that too. “Speak.”

“Lord Weaver, while we were breaching Hordak’s Sanctum, which was harder than we thought it would be, a lot of booby traps, we got around a dozen treating wounds in the infirmary. But anyway when we got in we acquired all of his personal belongings mostly just tech. One of his personal data-pads gave off a ping, some sort of automatic notification. It was a signal sent from an outpost in the Northern Reach in the frozen wastes, apparently the computers there have detected some new First Ones tech.”

“Ah perfect! That’s exactly what we need!” Shadow Weaver heard the vent being kicked open, only then when she lifted her head up to the high ceiling did she see the short purple woman descend to her to the floor. This. of course, was Entrapta the Princess of Dryl. Shadow Weaver didn’t like her much, she was the one to whom Hordak was going to give the Black Garnet. They didn’t see, but her face soured as her arms folded. “Have you briefed her about the power grid?”

Cobalt sighed, “I was about to.” It seemed that the Princess had interjected herself into Horde matters and into the command structure. She swung around like she owned the place. And Hordak would’ve probably let her walk all over him too.

“Well, since I’m here already I’ll explain. The Fright Zone’s power grid, a surprising intricate system that transfers power all around The Fright Zone keeping everything running, over heated. Meaning it’s stopped working, coolant systems have failed and ruptured expelling scolding steam through the corridors, a powerful and dangerous feedback surge has been created leading to the destruction through explosion of the main power-generators. Multiple floors are on fire. In Layman’s terms: It’s bad.”

“We are not imbeciles, Princess, do not treat us as such. You are not in command here, so I would watch your tone with me! You are only here, but I permit it.” Weaver pointed her finger at the hovering woman.

Entrapta looked down at the grey finger of the sorceress and then turned around, “Mmm, no, I am here because I want to be.” She began to stride across the throne room using her hair. Shadow Weaver still didn’t know if the purple tentacle hair was a magical ability or a technological aspect. Either way she followed the Princess. With a simple wave of her hand she dismissed her Force-Captains, its not like they wanted to stay around her so Cobalt, Grizzlor, and Octavia left without any further convincing. The witch kept up with the Princess. She made no sound when she walked, but the purple woman somehow knew she was close enough behind her to hear her, “As I was saying, the power grid can’t hold the amount of power it transmits, so we need a strong conductor, maybe a regulator too. That’s why the signal from the Northern Reach is a mighty convenient occasion. First Ones tech is ideal for the job. My recommendation: Send an excursion to the outpost, excavate the tech, transport it back here and install it in, solving the issue.”

“I didn’t ask for your ‘recommendation’... but that is a decent solution.” They passed the throne and moved forward through a thin hallway of pipes, as they reached its end a door slide open. Past it they entered a sort of  a corridor round-about, another door in front of them. The corridor curved around to multiple doors, opposite the doors were windows of one way glass looking over the landscape of The Fright Zone.

Shadow Weaver noted the burn marks and metallic plating torn and shredded, signs of damage caused by an explosion. The booby traps the Force-Captains spoke of. All disarmed, she hoped. The Sanctum doors opened, Entrapta entered first, Shadow Weaver followed close behind. Hordak’s Sanctum was a dimly lit tall box, computers all around it with data Entrapta couldn’t wait to get into. Various tech scattered around. To contrast all that were Shadow Weaver’s own belongings moved from her old room to her new one. “I like the paintings, good taste. I’ve got paintings too, back at home. But I prefer little cute big eyed kitties, rather than abstract horrific rorschach-like depictions of inner turmoil of anxieties. Hm, perhaps representing repressed and or traumatic memories. Interesting.”

Weaver raised a brow as she narrowed her eyes, “Uh huh. Thank you.” She was spot on. Her eyes could barely keep up with the Princess. She seemed very excited. She finally stopped dashing across the room madly and stood still at the centre of the room. Her pigtails split into multiple ends each tendril plugging into a different computer or any other data-holding devices, her hair fuzzed and the ends of each tendril lit up in a bright purple, on the boarder of being pink. The light moved inward towards her head in pulse-like motion. Weaver guessed, correctly, that Entrapta was downloading the information into herself.

“Oh, that’s fascinating.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure.” Before Shadow Weaver could ask any follow up questions from the corner of her eye she noticed a grey blur dashed across a higher scaffolding, accompanied by sounds of small footsteps scuttling about. She looked up to see a pair of small yellow luminous eyes.

It was Hordak’s tiny bat creature, Hordak seemed to have been close and appreciative of the creature. Whether it was a pet to him or like a child she did not know. All she knew was it was an annoying tattletale - spying, recording, and telling on people, completely loyal to Hordak in the way a child tells their parent on a sibling in return for candy, or chin scratches in this instance. The creature hissed. It clearly did not like Shadow Weaver, she did get rid of its creator.

“Cute.”

“What?”

“The hybrid, I think it’s named Imp. Fascinating little miracle of science.”

“Ugh, it’s as useful as a rodent. And twice as infuriating.” She said that like Imp wasn’t there in the room with them, he heard that and launched at the sorceress, biting her in her finger. The dark magician yelped and shook her hand in a cartoony comedic manner, a few seconds of the motion and Imp’s grip loosened and he flew through the air and landed in Entrapta’s hair where she brought him closer to her and gave him some soft scratches under his chin. He softened in her arms and pressed his cheeks against her shoulder. He stock his tongue out, and mouth farted at Shadow Weaver. Weaver growled and sighed.

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t like me.”

“What inclination makes you say that?”

“Oh just about anything and everything you do.” Entrapta unplugged from the tech and finally turned to face Shadow Weaver. She gave her a genuine smile, warm and well-meaning, “How about a dinner?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re clearly not a fan of mine, and this might be a beneficial social experiment to let us know each other better, since we’ll be working closely together for the foreseeable future.”

“Heh, what makes you think we’ll be ‘working closely together’?”

“You do want to know what this Hordak had been working on, don’t you? Do you know anyone else who can comprehend this sort of stuff?”

“I... I suppose not.” It was true, she didn’t, so Entrapta was important. But she wouldn’t admit that, and she would certainly not go to a dinner with a Princess. Before she could scoff any further, she heard a shy voice clear its throat. Weaver turned around to face it. It was Scorpia. Princess Scorpia.

“Umm, Ms Weaver, the uh, the excursion transport is ready. What are our next orders, ma’am, sir, m’Lord, Lady, Shadow Weaver... sir.” The Scorpion Princess awkwardly informed, her large red claw raised up to her temple, saluting. Two or three drips of sweat rolled down her face. For being so huge and muscular walking-rectangle she was very shy and small.

“What transport?!”

“Oh I was the one who requested it.” Entrapta replied. Entrapta moved through the room past the new Lord and moved to Scorpia. She handed the bat baby to the Scorpion Force-Captain, the hybrid boy kept attempting to chomp on Entrapta’s hair. Scorpia cradled the batling, whom now moved onto biting the hard claws. “We should solve the problem as soon as possible, so I gave a go-ahead.”

Shadow Weaver’s hand instinctly went up to her face, her muscle memory told her to rub her nose in exhausted irritation, but of course her mask blocked her hand. “Fine. Go. Fix my fortress.” She waved her hand to dismiss them, Scorpia and Imp moved out swiftly, only once she moved out of frame did Weaver notice that Catra stood behind her. The cat was sweating, clearly very nervous, she didn’t say anything, and followed Scorpia out. Entrapta hanged behind.

“Dinner. When I get back. We’ll talk. Takes around four hours to get to the outpost, four back, and a day in-between for excavation. So in three days, at 7, The Fright Zone cafeteria. I’ll cook.”

[ice-cream-writes-stuff]

¤°~Driving With The Stars~°¤

It was a simple Saturday in Twisted Wonderland. No school, no friends over. Just a relaxing day with nothing to do. (Y/N) lays on a couch in the lounge room. Mindlessly scrolling through Magicam, looking at posts her friends or classmates post.

A knock was heard on the Ramschakle door. (Y/N) had a gut feeling it was Crowley at the door. "I'm not gonna get up..." She drawls out lazily as her head snuggles into the pillows. "Really?"

"Well, I am glad I let myself in then." Mr. Crowley says as he stood in the middle of lounge room. "Gah!" The female screamed as she falls off the couch. "Ow..." She mumbles out in pain.

(Y/N) fixes her spot on the floor so she could be sitting crossed legged.

"Hi, Headmaster Crowley..." (Y/N) said with a lackluster tone. "What brings you here?" The female asked, waiting for him to give her and Yuu a task that he didn't want to do himself. "Well, you see (Y/N), there seems to be a problem out on the Ramshackle lawn," Crowley said with a aggressive tone.

"Wha-! Hold on, I need to check this out." Hurriedly getting up from her spot, she speed walks to the door. Opening the door, she takes a few cautious steps outside. Looking around to see if anything looked suspicious.

"Headmaster... There's nothing here- *gasp*!"

Right in front of Ramshackle was a car. A. Car. Didn't those only exist in her and Yuu's world?! (Y/N) runs up to the machine and starts to look at it up close.

"No way!! How is this even! When! How, what?!" The dorm leader screams loudly, her eyes practically turning into stars.

Mr. Crowley appears next to the star-struck girl. "You see, (Y/N). I've had this old car for a long time. I never really used it often, but I got a new car a few days back. So I decided to let you and Yuu to have my old one."

"How gracious am I!" The old crow states loudly. (Y/N) slowly turns her body to face Crowley. They run to the Headmaster, before Crowley could react. (Y/N) engulfed him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." (Y/N) says softly, not wanting to yell in his ear drums. Headmaster Crowley gently pats her back. The female student realased Mr. Crowley from her bear hug. Turning her attention to car once more. "So, do me or Yuu need a licence to use this thing or- and he's gone..."

(Y/N) gives a tired sigh and look at the cars. "Does this thing use keys?"

Stuffing her hands in her pocket, she felt something odd. Taking the small item out with confusion. Her previous questioning face turns into a fond look. A simple grey key was attached to keychain, along with a little tag attached to it. Spelling out Ramshackle in pretty hand writing.

Taking yet another look at the vehicle, (Y/N) sees that it looked rather similar to some of the cars in her world. It wasn't fancy or high tech, it was just a plain white, medium sized car. It was ordinary, simple, clean looking too. Maybe a little used, but (Y/N) could care less.

"Hmm, welp. I guess Headmaster Crowley wouldn't mind if I test this bad boy out!"

"Okay, let's see inside... Oh, it's just like the cars back home! Thank God!" Breathing out a sigh of relief, she puts the key in the ignition. The car roared as it started to turn on.

"Okay, hands on the wheel. Foot on the pedals and breaks. Alright, I should take a few test drives!"

______________________________________________

(Y/N) steps out of the car, shaking a bit. She couldn't tell if it was out of fear or excitement. Either way, she had to hold on to the roof of the car for support. The phone buzzed from her pocket. Taking it out with a wobbly hand, she clicks the notification.

Cater had posted something about a race that would be held tonight outside of school and how he was gonna record everything. (Y/N) reads over the post and takes a screen-cap on where the race was gonna be held. "Maybe I can test out my skills," she jokes dryly to herself. Thanking who-ever-above for not crashing into stuff and getting into a accident.

(Y/N) stiffly walks back to Ramshackle after parking the car inside the Ramschakle gates. Once inside her dorm, the ghosts start to question where she was. "Take a look outside, there's your answer." The three ghosts poke their heads outside and see the piece of machinery.

"It's me and Yuu's first car, so if you guys posses it or let Grim near it. Things are not gonna be pretty." (Y/N) said as her voice turned from joyful to serious. The three ghosts fearfully agree and congratulate her on the new car. Even if it was probably older than their dead souls.

She heads upstairs to her/Yuu and Grims room. The little furball slept on the covers while Yuu was reading a book, "I am the king of magic..zzz." Grim says in his sleep as he snores a bit. (Y/N) snickers at her animal friend and goes through her closet.

Only a few items of clothing would be good to wear outside. The clothes she had on were for lazy time, not outing wear. 'I gotta get a little more clothes, most of these outfits are for school.' (Y/N) held back a wince when she saw the outfit she wore for her "wedding day" yet smiled at her old fairy gala clothes. Beans day, dang, so much paint to wash out, it was pretty fun though!

'Where.. Wait, I think this would look nice..? Maybe.' (Y/N) was not a fashionista when it came to clothes. But, she could try today. "Hmm, ah-ha! This should be good enough." She picks up her items to wear, then remembers Yuu and Grim. Hoping that fire cat was still asleep, (Y/N) whispers to Yuu about what happened earlier this morning. Yuu gets up from his spot on the bed and goes over to the window to see the car, while (Y/N) quickly dashes to bathroom.

_____________________________________________

A young man steps out of his car. It looked nice and sleek, only with a few bits of dirt on the wheels. The car was definitely new looking. This driver of the car could be said the same. He wore nice clothes that looked like they couldn't be affordable.

His eyes were narrow and he had a cunning smirk.

He laughs once his opponent cries out in frustration. Cussing out few words as they bang their head against the drivers wheel. The male teen leans against his car and asks if anyone wanted to challenge him. Know one stepped up. The guys tsks and decided to take a break from driving, he'd rather wait until someone had enough guts to face him.

A simple white car drives up to the area. Parking against some of the other vehicles, teens look up from their phones and conversations to see the newcomer. A young male steps out, he bore red hair and had a dumb smirk on his face. While another boy stepped out the car after him, he had dark blue hair and started to argue quietly with the light red head. Soon other males get out of the car.

It almost looked like a clown car at how many people could fit in it. The "ring leaders", were the last one's to get out of the car.

(Y/N) stares at everything with subtle excitement as she and her friends group together. "(Y/N), I'm still surprised you've drove us here. I didn't think vehicles existed in your world." Deuce tells the female with a curious look. Unaware of her uneasy smile she had after he said that.

"Yeah, there are cars and motorbikes in my world. But.. They are a little different I guess, and I learned to drive in my old world once I got older." (Y/N) explained as she and her friends find a good spot to stand in. "Deuce, I think you should be more surprised that the Headmaster gave her a car."

"I never thought the cheapskate would just give you his car," Ace says with a sigh. "His old, used car." Epel clarified. "Right. What Epel said, or anything related to vehicles in general."

"Headmaster Crowley gave it to us. So until we find our way home. We can use it to travel besides mirrors." Yuu said softly, remembering that when Crowley finds a way for them to return home. There not gonna have these moments anymore.

The group of first years went quiet after his words. Jack decideds to lighten up the mood by pointing out that one of the party guests were getting ready to race. They all look up at the big hill as the race started. The nice looking car was in the lead, while the other was behind. The race ended and the nice car won.

Murmers from other party members were heard. Saying, "dang, Bryan is such a jerk." Or, "he always gloats about his driving skill." Sebek overhears this and looks at the winning driver.

They were a young human teen, male. He reeked of arrogance and pride. Someone not even worthy of his time, he was nothing like Lord Mallues and his elegance! (Y/N) sees Sebek turn his nose slightly at the winner. She couldn't blame him though, the winner was a real jerk about winning.

Deuce and Epel walk over to the winners car with amazement written all over their faces.

Not caring about the loud owner of the vehicle. "So cool.." Epel whispers as the car seemed to shine a bit. "It looks really new, how did this guy afford it?" Epel was so caught up in sleekness of the car that he was about to lean on it.

"HEY! Get your grubby hands away from my car!"

"Eh!" The two first years say in sync, startled from the outburst. Epel and Deuce straighten up as the winner of the race approached them. "What makes you think you guys can just go up and touch my ride?!!" "We didn't me too!"

Deuce said, trying to defend himself and Epel. (Y/N) takes notice of the situation and steps in front of her friends. "Woah, wait a second. They just apologized, there's no need for you to yell at them." The female says, trying to control the situation.

The once angry male was now looking up and down (Y/N), his frown turns into a suave smile. "Look hon, I'm just saying that those weirdos shouldn't have touched what they probably would never own." Bryan chuckles out, placing a hand on his hip. "Besides, it's not like they can even enter the race without a car. So why are they even here, their practically useless."

(Y/N) could feel her two friends seething from behind her. The female felt Yuu hold her wrist to calm her, she was just as ticked off as Deuce and Epel were. "I'll race you!" The female said without thinking at all. Not that she could give a damn at this moment.

A few gasps and "oh's" were heard after she challenged. Bryan smirks wickedly, "alright. The first one who makes it down the mountain wins. Though, I doubt your going to." (Y/N) scoffed at Bryan, he then gets in his car and drives up the hill.

Dirt and dust fills the air once he left. Coughing up dirt, (Y/N) burps and glares at the spot where the car was. "That guy is going down." The dorm leader said, not seeing Yuu their head.

Both cars had their engines on, parked side by side on the road on top of the hill. The sound of crickets was drowned out by the cars purring as a few fireflies flew about. The moon gleaming brightly in the dark sky. (Y/N) grips her driving wheel in agitation.

A scowl on her lips as she clenched her teeth. Bryan looks over at her from his car window. He grins, "maybe once this race is over. Why don't you and I go for a little cruising down the street. How's that~"

(Y/N) stomach turns as this dude was trying to mess with her. "You wish..!" (Y/N) barks at him, her anger rising like a volcano. A timer rings out in the air, and Bryan immediately revs his car engine and takes off. "Shoot!"

(Y/N) clamps down her foot on the pedal because of her late start. Rushes of white and blue could be seen going down the mountain. (Y/N)'s fellow first years watch from below. "Do you think she's gonna be okay?" Ace said, Jack hesitantly nods.

"She should be fine as long as she doesn't crash.." The six first years could only worry for (Y/N)'s safety. Said girl on the other hand could care less. Turning her wheel to the side, she pulls her shift gear and sloppily turns left and right. The two drivers were neck and neck yet (Y/N) passed him.

She smirks and keeps her eyes on the road. But a little squirrel scurried on to the road. (Y/N) gasps in shock and tries to avoid hitting the furry creature. Though at the cost of swiveling out of control.

"AAHHH!!"

(Y/N) hits the brakes as a loud shriek of the tires stop on the road. The car stops on the left side of the road as Bryans car drives past her. (Y/N) catches her breath, sweat and a few tears trickle down her skin. "Shit, I need to catch up!" (Y/N) was about to step on the pedals but sees herself in the review mirror.

The female lets her hands drop from the steering wheel, along with moving her foot from the pedals. (Y/N) opens the car door and steps out. Leaning her back against the car, trying the calm her beating heart. (Y/N) closes her eyes and turns her head up at the sky. "It's okay.."

(Y/N) says to herself, "I'm okay."

Sucking in a deep breath, she breaths out. "The stars look nice tonight." (Y/N) utters quietly, a determined look crossing her face. (Y/N) stops leaning on the door and opens it. "I can still cross the finish the line."

*Extra*

When she makes it down the hills road. Bryan stands by his car, a smug look on his features. (Y/N) parks her car and steps out. Bryan mocks her, yet she gives him a strained smiles. "Good race," and then walks over to her friend group. They glomp her in a hug, yelling at her and asking if she was alright.

(Y/N) just grins proudly, asking them if they wanted to drive up the hill with her. Not to race, but to see the stars.

The End.

(Good god this took forever, I had no ideas on how write about driving. Mostly music about driving and T.V shows kept my motivation flowing. Sorry if this isn't great, but I did my best. Thanks for reading!)